Training Log Archive: Bash

Achoo. :-(

Dontgetlost.ca Hard Rock at Rockcliffe Trails in Waterdown. I had 4 hrs of sleep after arriving home late last night to find poor ThunderDog stressed from a torn toenail; her bloody footprints covered the main floor of the house. 'Bent patched her up and planned to take her to the vet in the morning instead of using his Hard Rock entry. I did the clean-up so it was a late night. Since I'd been assigned to coach newbies in today's mini-nav clinic, I had to get to Waterdown - about 75 minutes each way.

I never really "checked in" today. I'm not good with newbies so that part would have been tough anyway. Then I got out on the Rockcliffe Trails map where there was lots of rock, moss and mud - not a good place for someone who was physically and mentally tired. I stopped in a few places to answer questions and give tips to some of the people from my clinic. I'd twisted my ankle yesterday so the rocky sections were scary, and then I slipped a couple of times on steep, muddy slopes and managed to wrench my bad knee on the other leg. As much as I hate to quit anything, the Giant's Rib Raid is just two weeks away and we already have one teammate with a bad knee. So I bailed without finishing the course. In spite of my bad day, it was a fun course - many thanks to Sudden for his hard work.

After spending Earth Hour at home with candlelight and Scrabble for a couple of years, 'Bent and I decided to hike to the nearest village (Palgrave) for a community get-together organized by the local church. The 4H Club youth had spent 6 weeks honing their pizza-making skills so they put on a fundraising dinner which also included Albion Hills maple syrup on ice cream - yum.

There were conversations and board games before Earth Hour, then we went outside for a campfire with dark hot chocolate, marshmallows, guitars and rousing songs led by an enthusiastic group of teenagers. (Who tried to limit their texting during Earth Hour.) As the end of the Hour approached, the kids slowed it down with Amazing Grace. As excellent harmonies rose into the night sky, someone inside happened to turn the church lights back on when we hit the line, "...was blind but now I see". A fun evening - we only knew about a third of the people but that was fine. Nice night hike home BUT I have a sore throat now. I think my immune system is not happy about last night.

Happy news! The pair of poodles who went missing in Palgrave Forest yesterday are safe and did not spend the cold night outside. I was looking out the door for them all evening, and I'd planned a poodle hunt on foot in Palgrave East this morning. There is enough uninhabited land for a dog to get seriously lost around here, so I always get a lump in my throat when I see a "lost pet" sign.

Only time for a quick run before heading into Toronto to check out the spring goodies at the Salomon Store then meet friends for dinner and the Banff Film Festival. (Which had an interesting film about changes to another area of Nepal we've trekked in - seems to be an ongoing theme of the week. This time the changes were happier.)


After a warm-up, I did a moderately hilly run on our country road. (Once again, I had new shoes that I wasn't ready to get muddy!) The dirt road run (from our driveway entrance to Humber Station to Hwy 50 to home) is 5.3K and took 1:15 less than two years ago. I think it may be helping that I have less weight to push up the hills.

In the ongoing challenge to lose 15 lb in 2010, I just noticed this... Liberte organic non-fat yoghurt is the best, but our grocery store only carries strawberry and raspberry, so I sometimes buy Silhouette non-fat, non-aspartame yoghurt to get different flavours. I thought I was mainly sacrificing "organic", but in the fine print I see that Liberte has twice the calories, twice the protein and more than twice the carbs of Silhouette. More calories but also more actual nutrition that doesn't come from fat. Its ingredients are all recognizable to me as food, which isn't true of Silhouette. Guess it's a good thing I like strawberry and raspberry.

Kbomb and Tizzle were doing some Death Race training in the Hockley Valley and I joined them. Poor Tizzle wrenched her ankle on some ice about 15 minutes into the run so we took the pace a little easier, but she was a real trooper, sticking it out to complete her longest and hilliest run to date. She even proposed the first "everyone try to run non-stop to the top of that big hill" dare.

Kbomb is an expert Hockley Valley runner by now, anticipating every twist in the route and providing reports on other trails in the area whenever we passed a junction with one. Our only wildlife spotting was a suspected male model - a 30-something rugged outdoor type with long, flowing blonde hair who smiled at us as he stood by a creek and we ran across the bridge. (Ladies, if anyone wants directions, I'll be happy to steer you to his creek!)

We'd planned on doing the Hockley Loop but a phone call from Tizzle's workplace necessitated a quicker return to the car by road after we'd completed the north part of the loop. No matter - it was a glorious morning to be out in the forest and HILLS. (Anyone who knows Hockley will agree those hills deserve block caps.) With no leaves on the trees yet, the views were scenic everywhere. Great way to start the day - thanks Kbomb and Tizzle!

Some brisk trekking along part of our route - eating snacks, resting twisted ankles, etc. I turned off the GPS for this, so the distance for the run above isn't quite as long as the normal distance for the North Hockley half-loop.

I was saddened to read this New York Times article on the Annapurna Circuit. Until now, the Circuit would have been on my short list of top trips to recommend to travelers. (Ignoring the fact that it was the most horrific trip we've ever taken due to a tropical cyclone-induced blizzard that wreaked havoc across the country, killing 100 people including a man in our group.)

In 1995, the trek was 150 miles ascending from 3,000' to almost 18,000' and back down again, usually taking about 2.5 weeks to allow for acclimatization and exploration. Back then, we were told Nepal had already been totally changed by tourism - but it turns out that was nothing. Whereas we only walked past a public telephone twice during our trek, there are now Internet cafes in roadless villages. Teahouses have been built along remote sections of trail. Worst of all (for trekkers, but not for Nepalis), roads have been built that will reduce this incredible trek to a mere long weekend by 2012. Great news for Nepal (except for the tourist industry) - bad news for trekkers.

People always talk about visiting third world places before they change, and this is a wake-up call that huge changes can take place in a short time. Guess it's time to write down a life list and identify the places that need to be visited sooner rather than later!

P.S. For those who know her, the Canadian occupational therapist referenced in the article is Lenora Delaney.

Hard Core DVD. I tried the technique I read about in Valerie's log, playing the DVD on my computer with no sound while watching something else on TV (and sneaking frequent glances at the computer screen). It's not 100% perfect but I like doing two things at once. I watched The Daily Show and the Colbert Report - shows where you don't need to look at the screen all the time. It would work well with podcasts if I put speakers on my iPod - gotta try that.

I wanted to try my beautiful new red and orange Salomon SLAB-2 XT Wings but I wasn't ready to sacrifice them to the mud gods just yet, so I ran around our hilly country block. Except for a few goopy spots on north Duffy's Lane, it's drier than the trails right now - about 60/40 dirt/pavement.

I worked on the Chi running techniques we learned from Trav & Baloney's book and DVD. (Hey guys, if we ever see you again, we *will* give them back - honest.) I think I've always used Chi running form on the downhills without knowing what it was, which is why I can pass even 'Bent on downhills. I just need to get better at harnessing the power of gravity on the flats and uphills.

I ran this route 18 months ago when I was preparing for my ill-fated marathon. Today's pace was the same - 8 sec/km faster, actually. So that's OK. I don't expect to get much faster as a masters athlete but it would be nice if I don't get a lot slower just yet.

Fyi to Caledon runners who might try this route: Around the block is 9 km even. Our driveway out-and-back adds 300 m. (And by all means, stop in and say hi!)